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• root-and-branch
  root-and-branch

  adjective

  on a large scale or without discrimination; wholesale
• root and branch
  root and branch

  Utterly, completely, as in The company has been transformed root and branch by the new management. Alluding to both the underground and aboveground parts of a tree, this idiom was first recorded in 1640.

root-and-branch

British  

adjective

1. on a large scale or without discrimination; wholesale

   root-and-branch reforms

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adverb

1. entirely; completely; utterly

   Brazil needs reform root and branch

root and branch Idioms  

1. Utterly, completely, as in The company has been transformed root and branch by the new management. Alluding to both the underground and aboveground parts of a tree, this idiom was first recorded in 1640.

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

root-and-branch root and branch

The author ties his root-and-branch critique of capitalism to a plea to “make modern life much more affordable than it is at present,” which he hopes will open more opportunities for enlightened leisure.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 2, 2026

The last one, less than three years ago, produced a surprise win for the progressive Move Forward party, which had campaigned on promises of root-and-branch political and economic reforms.

From BBC ● Feb. 5, 2026

And because of its hallowed status as a national treasure, any efforts at root-and-branch change quickly run up against political resistance.

From New York Times ● Jul. 16, 2023

But this is the first time he’s dug root-and-branch into a decades-old genre he’d only glanced at before.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 17, 2022

It is in this stage that the root-and-branch abolitionist and the fire-eater begin their really effective careers.

From The Brothers' War by Reed, John Calvin

The report, produced along with the former Conservative policing minister Lord Herbert for the College of Policing, will recommend a "root and branch modernisation" of recruitment, development and monitoring within the service.

From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2026

A House of Lords report released in October found that serious waste crime was being "critically under-prioritised" and ordered a "root and branch" inquiry into how "endemic" waste crime was being tackled.

From BBC ● Dec. 24, 2025

Not at his attempts to wreak personal vengeance, reconstitute Washington root and branch, or engineer a lasting partisan realignment.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 1, 2024

The chief executive of St Catherine’s Hospice, which operates in West Sussex and Surrey, said funding of the sector needed an urgent root and branch review.

From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2024

He had decided not to truckle with Might any more—to cut it out root and branch, by establishing another standard altogether.

From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White